![Emotional Attachment to Robots can Turn Dangerous for Humans Emotional Attachment to Robots can Turn Dangerous for Humans](https://images.medindia.net/health-images/1200_1000/robot.jpg)
That raises the question, if a soldier attaches human or animal-like characteristics to a field robot, can it affect how they use the robot? What if they "care" too much about the robot to send it into a dangerous situation?
That's what Julie Carpenter, who just received her UW doctorate in education, wanted to know. She interviewed Explosive Ordnance Disposal military personnel - highly trained soldiers who use robots to disarm explosives - about how they feel about the robots they work with every day.
Part of her research involved determining if the relationship these soldiers have with field robots could affect their decision-making ability and, therefore, mission outcomes. In short, even though the robot isn't human, how would a soldier feel if their robot got damaged or blown up?
What Carpenter found is that troops' relationships with robots continue to evolve as the technology changes.
Soldiers told her that attachment to their robots didn't affect their performance, yet acknowledged that they felt a range of emotions such as frustration, anger and even sadness when their field robot was destroyed.
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Some soldiers told Carpenter they could tell who was operating the robot by how it moved.
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Soldiers told Carpenter their first reaction to a robot being blown up was anger at losing an expensive piece of equipment, but some also described a feeling of loss.
Source-ANI